BIRTHDAY
being her birthday
(day she
designated her
birthday)
decided to
take the name
of Circe
straight out of
Homer (not
Compton) Medea’s
sister
Odysseus’ gorgeous
witch
tinkered with
settings to
better
acclimatize
(many chaos fluctuations
to deal with
already)
surveyed her
environs
(things classically
uncanny,
betwixt identical
and alien)
proposed
to herself
she
re-
write her
program
the better
to blend in
BY DESIGN
I like the designs
she came up with
the adaptations
to allow
us to survive
and so much more
stepping into a teal sea
under a soft violet sky
we find
we love it in this
alien ocean
together we flow
forgetful of time and
smooth and succinct in
the way we explore
our streamlined acuity
release
from gravity.
MACHINE
sometimes I slip
into a bad
philosophical space
lose it in
my psyche
flirt with
falling off the rails
when it
comes to my own humanity
thinking
if you other,
you alien
no way
you think, feel like me,
we never
can
agree
our speech
never intersect, no
coincidence
within belief
shame on me
shame on me
I bleed, I desire, I want
I need
I fear
and Oh, my God, how
much I fear
and yet as you look
wonder
what you see
it could well be alien
I may be just machine
FAIR PROPORTION
they bring the hybrid
to his cell
she needs to talk to him
since species-wise she
has a fair proportion
of his genetic makeup
here she is
for what it’s worth
I agreed to meet her
hard to figure out
exactly what
is human
but one must
presume
it is there
so this is it
this is in me, embodiment
of what I am
capable
the likeness is
there but everything
about him
seems guarded, hidden
as if he instinctively realizes
all that is terrible in
his capacity
all that
can be wrong, go wrong,
and he did terrible wrong
she aaked to talk to him
get answers to questions
she felt she needed
answers to, for her
crucially important
so she could figure out
for herself what is them
what is us
we talk
She is so insistent in
going over things, knowing details,
minutiae, everything
exactly
I look at him one lsst time
try to see through those eyes
(I do not have human eyes
to me they
are untrustworthy,
thoroughly upsetting)
I want to tell.him.
he might have, ought to,
have sought forgiveness
for his crimes, these
humsn crimes
senze
a moment– out of nowhere
of grace
and dignity
so I leave with a wish
that he finds courage and
composure at his execution
having killed so many of
my people, pure and hybrid,
so different and yet
who knows how close
in what is felt inside.
She leaves the cell. We
ask no questions. What
hopes she has, what
reassurance she found
is hers alone. We
should not enquire.
COUPLED
be careful
what you
wish for
imagination
coupled
with
distance
is such
a killer
the creature of
my dreams
was
so different
strange, alluring
utterly unique and
exotic
sadly
she is
light years distant
in space
and time
her species across
the galaxy on a
distant
epic planet
however
you do spin it,
her species not having
begun to
truly evolve yet
at least in a direction
I would extremely like
DRAGON
year of the Dragon, sign
of Aquarius
my robot took me out
fishing for nebulae
being a sort-of poet
I will sort-of try to convince
you we did
not return home unlucky
the fish that we caught
though lacking old sci fi fins
pleaded to
be returned to the cosmos
in pure mathematics
and songs, such sad songs,
that took us through
all the universally audible
and inaudible harmonies
such strange
outlandish scales, she commented
as she and I
calculated what to do
with such a freshly caught
specimen of piscean
intangibility
year of the Dragon, sign
of Aquarius
we added
a new phenomenon
to our expanding collection
DISAPPEAR
good
better
best
suddenly superlatives
don’t carry
the weight
they used to
I wonder how I,
if I happened to be an
advanced, super-intelligent species
would infiltrate
(have infiltrated)
this sea, water planet
in order to control it
in order to relegate the existing
top dogs
keep then constrained
and monitored
so smartly and with
such sophistication
they do not know
that I am here
running the show, keeping them
so much
none the wiser
good better best
happy happier a whole long list springs to mind
of words to help disappear
HOMEWORLD
a lot of tourists
came to our planet
behaved despicably
threw their weight around
(which in the case
of creatures from gas giants
could be truly immense)
worst of all, as to be expected,
were the various species
of humanoids
and worst of these
were this truly abhorrent
species
from a planet called Earth
who gave us no choice
but to strike at their Homeworld
and eviscerate their leaders
since it is in the nature of
this species to choose as
their leaders the greediest
and most depraved
and insensible amongst them
without which
we calculated
this species had a future
might have
some kind of chance
SPIDER WASP (SEQUEL)
spider wasp buzzing
the hell out of me
yes, sir, madam
I know your history
how you and that Darwin
bloke
exploded ET phone home
got us
alien-inseminated on
LV 426
scared us out of our wits
and got a knighthood for
Sir Ridley
I’m watching you my little friend
you should watch it too
Sigourney
terrible if a wasp embryo
should eat its way through
your fine fine chest
don’t climb into the loader might
then think you
got eight legs
don’t ever want to give it that idea
since you know
James Cameron going
to be calling for a sequel
HUMONGOUS
human look
humongous
through
alien eyes
(forget any
cosmic romance
with sweet tentacled
creature)
the bodies we
born with
not
for light-
speed optimized
what spring and
bounce born with
gravity level-best to
be levelling
so here we be stuck
all can do
is wave as they pass
us
any cosmic, astral travellers
then
best write it off, crazy
to believe
when everything in
our Universe premised
on
plausible denial
poems 2 die for